Some suppliers to the Upshur County Sheriff’s Office may find their payments delayed by the county Auditor’s Office, Sheriff Anthony Betterton said Tuesday.

The sheriff said that the auditor, who had recently required the Sheriff’s Office to get bids on jail food to be in compliance with state regulations, now is refusing to pay certain bills “because they are unsigned,” he said.

“If there is a purchase order, they don’t have to be signed,” he maintained.

The sheriff said that this is a replay of troubles his office had in dealing with former auditor Pam Long (now Lange), when she refused to okay certain bills, including gasoline charges, for the Sheriff’s Office.

The auditor was in a meeting and could not be reached for comment by deadline.